


Open Heart Surgery

by teaandtumblr



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Found Family, Friendship, Gen, Post-Kingdom Hearts III, Sora being there for Roxas, basically Xemnas is a dick, mentions of harm, mentions of past relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-13
Updated: 2019-05-13
Packaged: 2020-03-02 15:46:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,062
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18814015
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/teaandtumblr/pseuds/teaandtumblr
Summary: A few weeks later it happened. Sora had pushed open the door only to come to a dead halt. Roxas was halfway through pulling a shirt over his head but he too paused at seeing Sora there. His hands went to cover his chest but it was too late, Sora had already seen.Already seen the many scars that covered his chest. Too many. Far too many scars.“Roxas…” Sora breathed, stepping forward and hating how he almost stumbled. “What...how did…”Roxas just shrugged. "Keyblades come from the light within a person’s heart, right? But I was a Nobody who had two keyblades. I didn’t have a heart but...Well, it didn’t stop Xemnas from looking.”Sora gets to know Roxas properly. It isn't all pretty.





	Open Heart Surgery

**Author's Note:**

> this came to me this morning and I just kind of...ran away with the idea. Hope you like! Also, I've kinda just used whichever names I like for the Nobodies so...there's that XD

  
  


***

 

“Hey Roxas, you gonna come down to the beach with us?”

Sora watched as Roxas reluctantly dragged his eyes away from whatever it was he was reading. He’d tucked himself into one of the top levels of their old island treehouse but it wasn’t like everyone didn’t know that was the first place to look for him.

“Will Ven’ be there?”

Sora laughed, shaking his head. “Nope! And come on, he’s not that bad!”

“I never said he was,” Roxas huffed, getting to his feet nonetheless, eyes skimming the book for a page number before carefully closing it. “And no, I don’t care that he looks like me.”

“I know,” Sora assured, beaming.

Roxas had to quickly look away, cheeks ever so slightly pink but Sora was learning more about Roxas every day. Like, for instance, strong emotions - no matter what they were - left him overwhelmed, borderline embarrassed. He also knew Roxas wasn’t lying: he _didn’t_ mind that Ventus may as well have been his identical twin. No, the only problem Sora knew of Roxas having with the other keyblade wielder was that he was too “immature”, whatever that was supposed to mean. But then again, Roxas was a little on the serious and reserved side so maybe it made sense. 

Hitting the beach, Sora waved at Kairi and Riku before snatching up Roxas’ hand, catching him before he could slink to Axel’s side. “Hey, come in today?”

He nodded at the surf by way of explanation but Roxas just shook his head. “No thanks.”

“Aww, come _on_ ,” Sora pleaded, tugging on his hand a little more forcefully. “You never come in with us. Not even your feet!”

Which was true. Roxas always firmly kept both his shoes and socks in. It was an honest to god disgrace in Sora’s opinion.

“That’s ‘cause he hates getting wet,” Axel said, cutting in smoothly and delicately taking Sora’s hand off Roxas. “You’re an islander, he’s a city boy. You’ll have to get used to that, got it memorised?”

“I’m not a _boy_ Axel,” Roxas grumped but seemed thankful enough for the save. Sora just sighed.

“Well okay then. But one day you’ll try it, promise?”

“Promise.”

Only, it didn’t feel like one.

 

***

 

A few weeks later it happened. Sora rapping on the door Roxas claimed as his own in the terraced house he, Xion, Axel, and Isa shared. Maybe he’d thought Sora was Axel, maybe he hadn’t thought at all, but Roxas had called him in and Sora had pushed open the door only to come to a dead halt. Roxas was halfway through pulling a shirt over his head but he too paused at seeing Sora there. His hands went to cover his chest but it was too late, Sora had already seen. 

Already seen the many scars that covered his chest. Too many. _Far_ too many scars. 

Roxas’ eyes remained locked on him for the longest time before he shrugged, apparently deciding the damage was already done. That didn’t make it okay though; made it nowhere _near_ okay.

“Roxas…” Sora breathed, stepping forward and hating how he almost stumbled. “What...how did…”

Roxas just shrugged again. 

“Don’t,” Sora begged, reaching out to touch the scars. He flinched the second his fingertips made contact, even if Roxas didn’t so much as blink. “This isn’t...Roxas…”

His Nobody sighed, pulling his shirt on as though this was nothing. “Look, Keyblades come from the light within a person’s heart, right? But I was a Nobody who had two keyblades. I didn’t have a heart but...Well, it didn’t stop Xemnas from looking.”

Sora’s heart caught in his throat, eyes burning. “Roxas, that’s not-!”

“It’s what it is,” Roxas cut in, softly but firmly. One look at Sora’s face had him relenting though and he dropped onto his bed, gesturing for Sora to come join him. He did, only to freeze and choke out a sob when he saw the gnarled scars that wrapped around Roxas’ wrists as well. Even Sora knew what those were from:

Straining against restraints so strongly it cut into the skin, broke it, marred it.

Had Xemnas not even...Had Roxas been _awake_? 

Perhaps just as painfully, Roxas’ ankles matched his wrists and Sora suddenly understood why he dressed the way he did; why the sweatbands and the socks and never taking his shirt off no matter what the weather. Perhaps, even, why he never came swimming.

“Sora…” Roxas sounded uncomfortable and Sora could feel him shifting around. There were then thumbs swiping the tears off his cheeks. “It’s _okay_.”

Sora recoiled. “It’s not!” His voice broke in the middle but he didn’t care. “ _None_ of this is okay Roxas! These things, they...they happened to you, and it’s because of me!”

Roxas frowned. 

“Don’t give me that face. Everything you went through, it was because of me.”

“No, it was because of Xemnas.” Roxas’ voice was so sharp it cut through Sora’s tears. “Without you...Sora, if it wasn’t for you, I wouldn’t exist at all. And I…” Roxas hugged his knees to his chest. “Call me selfish, but I’m _glad_ I exist. I guess I never thanked you for that. I know that...well, what you went through for me to be made...that wasn’t an easy process.”

Sora had...never thought about it that way. His hand found its way to Roxas’ back, rubbing it reassuringly. “Well, you’re more than welcome. And also know, I’m never going to let you get hurt like again, alright?”

Roxas laughed. “I know you won’t. You’re a good person Sora.”

Sora matched his smile, letting the warm silence wrap around them for a few minutes before, “Hey, you know, I have a question I just thought of.”

He got a raised eyebrow in return.

“Okay, so I’ve had emotions my whole life. But you...Roxas, you had to be given emotions right? What was the first thing you felt, when you got them? What did you do first?”

Roxas looked taken aback and then...and then his smile didn’t seem as warm anymore. No, it become something more whimsical. “The first thing I did was really stupid.”

Sora blinked in confusion. “Huh? But that doesn’t sound like you.”

“Maybe not,” Roxas agreed, hands aimlessly patting down his pants as though looking for something he’d long lost. “But if I tell you, you won’t tell anyone else, will you?”

“Of course not. But wh-”

“The first thing I did was fall in love.”

Sora’s mind screeched to a halt. Roxas didn’t seemed to notice though, just let his hands ball into fists.

“I was young and stupid. All these new emotions that I couldn’t handle and I just...I guess I let them consume me.”

“Do you…” Sora’s voice was little more than a whisper. “You miss them, don’t you?”

Roxas snorted. “Yeah, I do. What makes it harder is I still see them. Just...not the them _I_ know.”

“Couldn’t you…” Sora gestured loosely. “Try with the, uh, the this version?”

After all, there were probably only three people it could be. Everyone else who knew Roxas had known him from the start. Roxas just smiled sadly and Sora recognised the look in his eyes; one of resignation. He’d already decided this was just one more thing he’d lost.

“In a lot of ways,” Roxas said. “Hayner, Pence, Olette...In a lot of ways they’re the same. But there are memories we share - or maybe memories I have - that they don’t. I know I can make new ones but I also wanna savour the old ones too. These versions of my friends, they might be real but they’re not _my_ friends. Not the ones I lived with anyway. Not yet.”

When he put it like that, Sora understood. Some things could never be replaced. Some things shouldn’t be. 

The moment then passed, Roxas getting to his feet and pulling on a hoodie, the autumn of Twilight Town starting to put a nip in the air. He stuffed his feet into his shoes, pulling his socks up before going to find his skateboard.

“Hey Sora?”

“Yeah?”

“Don’t...Xion and Isa, Namine...they don’t know. Only Axel does and…”

“You don’t have to say anymore,” Sora said. “You make your own choices now Roxas. And I’m gonna respect your privacy. Always. Just know that too, okay?”

Roxas turned to him, shaking his head in disbelief. “You know, sometimes I wonder how I ever came from you.”

“And just what is _that_ supposed to me?” Sora demanded, jokingly placing his hands on his hips.

Roxas - astonishingly - poked his tongue out at him. Sora’s jaw dropped but by the time he got to his feet, Roxas was out the door and halfway down the stairs. Oh well, the guy needed to have some fun anyway.

 

***

 

“Hey Axel?”

“Yeah Sora?”

“I...Roxas told me about, y’know, what Xemnas did to him.”

“...guess I better get some ice-cream.”

 

***

 

Sora sat himself down next to Riku, the sound of the waves crashing so, so peaceful. It felt like forever since they’d just gotten to sit here like this and now...Now they could do it all the time. Sure, there was school to catch up on - which Sora did _not_ miss, at all - but to simply exist as a kid? A teenager? That was something Sora had often questioned if he’d ever get to do again.

“You’re awfully quiet,” Riku commented, going to make a joke but Sora shaking his head to stop him. Instead he frowned. “Sora? Is something wrong?”

Sora chewed on his bottom lip, uncertain. “I...Did you ever say sorry to Roxas?”

Riku blinked twice. “What?”

“ _Did_ you?”

Riku clenched his jaw. “I did what I had to Sora. I had to get you back.”

“But you hurt Roxas in the process!” Sora cried. “And I know it was for me but Riku, don’t you see how that makes it _worse_? Roxas didn’t ask to be made and then…”

“Then I kidnapped him and destroyed his life,” Riku finished when Sora couldn’t. He sighed, running a hand through his hair. “No, I guess I didn’t.”

“Could you?”

Riku’s frowned deepened at Sora’s uncharacteristically quiet tone. He reached out, guiding Sora’s chin up with a hand. “Hey, what’s this all about?”

“It isn’t about anything,” Sora said firmly. “It’s just about being fair. I…” He pulled away, scratching at his neck awkwardly. “I learnt some things about Roxas, Riku. What happened to him, what he went through...it wasn’t great. And I think, even if he doesn’t know how to say it, or maybe he doesn’t even realise it, I think it still hurts. But I know,” he added brightly, smile wide. “That if you said sorry, he would feel a bit better! We could right one wrong, you know?”

Riku mulled that over, eventually nodding. It wasn’t that hard, not really. Plus it was worth it, worth it for the way Sora’s eyes lit up. “Okay. Next time I see him, I’ll talk to him.”

“Thanks Riku!”

 

***

 

“What’s this?”

“Man, are you dense or what?” Hayner teased, waving a very similar piece of card. “Tell me you’ve seen a birthday invitation before.”

Roxas very much hadn’t but he didn’t say that, just staring down at his own paper in that same state of incredulity. “But it’s...this says _my_ birthday.”

His expression only soured when all Hayner, Pence, and Olette did was laugh. Hayner elbowed him in the ribs before Olette took compassion on him, a gentle hand resting on his arm. “Everyone has a birthday Roxas.”

He shook his head, taking a half-step back. “Not me. I...I wasn’t born, I…”

“You exist right?” Hayner said with a roll of his eyes. “Which means you started somewhere, sometime.”

“Hayner’s right!” Pence agreed. “Even if it wasn’t, uh, conventional, you were still “born”.”

“And that makes you just as entitled to a birthday as everyone else!” Olette tacked on.

Roxas begrudgingly gave in, pocketing the invitation that had details scrawled across it in Sora’s chicken-scratch handwriting. He was sure, if he checked the date to any great extent, it would match the day he came into being. He had to admit, he was touched, even if he wasn’t going to show it. No, what he settled on was,

“Fine. But only because there’ll be ice-cream.”

 

***

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading and hope you enjoyed! .xx Dan


End file.
